Roll out more loos
WHEELCHAIR USERS CAUGHT SHORT
A DISABILITY advocate says the Geelong CBD is in desperate need of more accessible toilets to enable those who use wheelchairs to spend more time in the wider community.
Jenny MacPherson, who uses a wheelchair, says some disabled people limit the time they spend in the city because there are no accessible toilets they can use independently.
Funding for toilets is available through the Department of Health and Humans Services’ Changing Places grants. Applications close on Friday.
Ms MacPherson said she had been campaigning for more than a decade for accessible “changing room toilets” — which have a hoist and adult changing table — to be built in Geelong.
A City of Greater Geelong spokesman said the council was currently finding a suitable waterfront location for a new accessible toilet. He said the city received a Changing Places State Government grant last year.
“We are now negotiating to install a Changing Place at a site on Geelong’s waterfront,” he said.
He said the city would apply for a second grant in the 2017-18 funding round — if successful, this would be located in the northern suburbs.
The Geelong Advertiser understands existing toilet facilities at the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre were recently found to be eligible for Changing Places certification.
The council spokesman said five other toilets across the city had hoist and adult change facilities. These facilities are not currently certified Changing Places.
Ms MacPherson said all members of the community had the right to easily accessible public toilets.
“Lots of people in Geelong have to go to facilities like Scope simply to use the toilet because there are no suitable public facilities,” Ms MacPherson said.
Nearby Surf Coast Shire has applied for two $100,000 State Government grants to build Changing Places facilities in Anglesea and Winchelsea.
Councillor Rose Hodge, a supporter of the council’s All Abilities Advisory Committee, said the two proposed sites were considered most suitable after an assessment of 18 locations across the Surf Coast.
“You can understand why this project has been supported by our All Abilities Advisory Committee,” Cr Hodge said.
“They have lobbied to apply for these grants as they know how much the facilities will help local and visiting people with a disability, and their families.
“They will help families to travel together — something that they are not always able to do because of the logistics involved.”